The Hogwarts Inter-House Quidditch Cup operated on a round-robin point system.
Starting from the second month of the school year, every team played every other team twice. The two teams with the highest total points would then compete in the final match.
Because of the previous match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff was currently far ahead of the other houses in the Quidditch Cup standings.
Even so, neither Kyle nor Cedric relaxed their training standards in the slightest.
Today was the seventh day of hell training.
After seven days of grinding, the Hufflepuff players had made significant progress.
At the very least, their Keeper, Jack, no longer missed five out of ten quaffles only to block the remaining five with his face.
After an hour of training, only two unlucky Chasers had their arms broken by Bludgers and required Kyle's treatment.
The others couldn't be called unscathed, but they only suffered minor injuries—nothing broken—which Hannah handled easily.
"Alright, tomorrow is our match against Gryffindor, so let's end today's training a bit early."
At 9:30 PM, Cedric called a halt to the practice.
All the players cheered.
Leaving the training grounds, Captain Jack proposed going to the kitchens for a late-night snack to replenish their drained energy and stamina.
This suggestion naturally met with everyone's approval.
"Kyle, where are you going?"
After sneaking out of the Hufflepuff common room, Cedric called out to Kyle, who was heading in a different direction.
"I have some business with Snape. You guys go ahead and eat; I'll join you later." Kyle walked away without looking back.
He had planned to ask Snape to teach him Potions for a long time.
Due to magic, even wizards who didn't pay much attention to physical exercise had physiques significantly stronger than ordinary Muggles.
But this strength had its limits.
No matter how much they trained, a wizard couldn't strengthen themselves to the level of Taijutsu masters in One Piece or Naruto, shattering mountains with a single punch.
However, wizards had their own solutions.
For example, there is a magical beast called the Re'em. Its blood can temporarily grant the drinker immense strength.
While it wouldn't let you shatter a mountain, it would be enough to arm-wrestle Captain America.
If brewed into a Strengthening Solution, this effect could be made permanent.
Besides potions, another path was modifying one's body with Dark Magic.
Kyle hadn't not considered this path.
But after he mentioned the idea to Grindelwald and Dumbledore, he was sternly warned by the two old men.
Dumbledore even showed him an image of a bald wizard with two slits instead of a nose.
He told Kyle that this was Voldemort after performing Dark Magic transformations on himself.
Thinking he might end up looking like that after using Dark Magic on himself, Kyle instantly banished the thought of Dark Magic modification.
Screw Dark Magic transformations—he didn't want to go bald at all, even if it meant getting stronger.
So, the only path left before him was taking potions.
Furthermore, as his physique grew stronger day by day, although he could withstand greater electrical power, the efficiency of tempering his body with lightning was constantly decreasing.
To maintain the efficiency of his training, he needed many precious potions to assist his cultivation.
While Grindelwald's skill in Potions was sufficient to brew them for him, Grindelwald couldn't be there to help him every moment of the day.
Thus, the idea of learning to brew potions himself took root in Kyle's mind.
Asking Snape to teach him was the best choice.
As for whether studying Alchemy and Potions simultaneously would take up too much of his time?
Actually, Kyle wasn't that interested in deep-diving into Alchemy; he didn't need the Philosopher's Stone to extend his life.
At most, he just wanted to modify the sports car he had parked at Bag End, and the tank Alfred had procured for him.
In comparison, Potions was more important.
Kyle arrived at the door of Snape's office. Before he could knock, the door opened automatically.
"What are you doing here?" Snape asked without looking up, tending to a potion simmering in a cauldron.
"Professor Snape, I want to learn Potions from you!"
"No. Get out." Snape pointed a finger toward the door, his tone calm and cold.
Kyle piled an ingratiating smile onto his face. "Professor, don't be so heartless."
"Get out," the old bat repeated expressionlessly.
The moment he thought about how Kyle, after learning from Dumbledore about the love-hate saga between him and the Potter family, still dared to give him a set of Potter-brand hair care products as a Christmas gift, he wanted to hit the brat in front of him with Levicorpus.
He didn't know where this wretched child had found such a set of shampoo; the Potter family's magical factory had ceased production ages ago.
Seeing Snape's unfriendly expression, the smile on Kyle's lips slowly faded. "I'm leaving then, Professor."
Snape didn't speak; he just watched him quietly.
Kyle took two steps out, then paused. He turned back. "Professor, I'm really leaving."
Snape remained silent.
As he reached the doorway, Kyle deliberately muttered in a volume Snape could hear.
"I was originally thinking of telling you a way to let you see your beloved Lily again."
Kyle knew how deep Snape's love for Lily was. As long as he used news of the Resurrection Stone as bait, he wasn't afraid Snape wouldn't bite.
If he could develop the Impure World Reincarnation or even the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, he believed Snape would agree to slave away for him without hesitation.
"Come back!" Snape's reaction was exactly as Kyle expected.
But Kyle didn't stop. Instead, he sped up and bolted.
You say come back and I come back? Wouldn't I lose a lot of face?
Snape frantically chased Kyle out of the office. However, having never exercised, how could he match Kyle in physical fitness?
He couldn't catch up at all and could only watch helplessly as the distance between them grew wider and wider.
"Professor! I don't want to learn Potions anymore!" Kyle made a face at Snape over his shoulder as he ran.
"Don't let me catch you!" Snape roared viciously.
He jerked his wand out, wanting to stop Kyle with a Leg-Locker Curse.
But at such a distance, with Kyle having opened the First Gate, he could easily evade the attack.
Snape couldn't use high-power spells either; he wanted to stop the boy, not kill him. Otherwise, would Kyle still be hopping around in front of him?
The two continued their chase through the castle.
Kyle, being a chaotic menace, would slow down whenever he noticed the gap between him and Snape getting a bit too wide.
When Snape was about to catch up, he would stride out and start running again.
Finally, Snape couldn't run anymore. He stood in place, panting heavily, and shouted in exasperation at the figure ahead, "Kyle! You stand right there!"
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